Nitrogen-doped bismuth ferrite nanozymes: Tailored electronic structure for organic pollutant degradation

Abstract

The insufficient catalytic activity and non-recyclability of nanozymes are major obstacles for nanozyme-mediated water purification. Since electronic transfer is the basic essence of catalysis-mediated redox reactions, this research reveals that meticulous tuning of the electronic structure of magnetic bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3) through nitrogen doping, allows for excellent performance in organic pollutants degradation in water (including dyestuff and antibiotics), along with magnet separation-mediated recyclability. Mechanically speaking, nitrogen-doping rational optimize their peroxidase-like activity by increasing the electron density of the Fe-N active center, meanwhile, the tailored bandgap significantly enhances the full-spectrum absorption, especially in the near-infrared region (NIR). Consequently, a light-enhanced N-doped BiFeO3 nanozyme has been engineered to generate excessive reactive oxygen species (14.63-fold in total) for pollutants degradation with recyclable capacity, 94.27 % for Methylene Blue and over 60 % for multiple antibiotics. This study underscores the efficacy of fine-tuning the electronic structure in enhancing the catalytic performance of nanozymes for organic pollutants removing.